The document provides a checklist for companies considering global expansion. It advises focusing on dominating the local market before expanding globally. It evaluates several factors for entering new markets: product/market fit and path to dominating the local market; language/cultural understanding; talent availability; competitive landscape; and potential for network effects across borders. Companies are scored in each area, with scores above 25 points indicating they are ready to expand globally and scores below 15 points suggesting they should not consider it. The checklist is meant as a reference to help evaluate readiness for global operations.

1. The
Global Expansion
Checklist
by Hiro maeda

2. Portfolios (30+ Companies)
Giftee Qiita
A service with which you can
send small gifts via Twitter
and email.
Anyperk
Sassor WHILL Viibar Fril
http://giftee.co
Dreampass
http://dreampass.jp
On-demand service for movie
screening at theaters.
http://qiita.com/
Knowledge sharing
platform for
programmers
http://anyperk.com/
AnyPerk offers great perks as
employee perks.
Electricity-consumption
management tool for homes.
http://sassor.jp
Next generation personal
mobility.
http://whill.jp
Crowdsourced video production
platform
http://viibar.com/
Marketplace
for women
http://www.fril.jp

4. Advise Against
Global from Day 1
• The world is complex.
• Need to focus.
• Maximize Leverage.
• Pick one market to dominate.

6. Phase
• Product/Market Fit?
• Should be on track to dominating your local
market.
• Example: 10M downloads where the
break down is 20% USA, 10% Japan, and
10 other countries with less than 5% is not
dominating a market.
• BUT! if they are all engineers than you are
dominating.

7. Phase (Scoring)
• (5 points) - Product/Market fit with clear path to
dominating your local market.
• (3 points) - Product/Market fit no clear path yet.
• (0 points) - no Product/Market fit

8. Language / Culture
• Do you speak their language?
• Do you understand culture and nuances?

9. • (5 points) - Native Speaker, lived in the country.
• (3 points) - Speaks well enough, immersed in
the culture
• (2 points) - Me No Understand
Language / Culture (scoring)

10. Talent
• Need to be able to hire the best talent in the
market you enter.
• Execution is everything.
• Not enough due diligence on the country
manager.
• Need to treat it liking adding a cofounder.
• They need to live and breath your
company culture.
• They need to be share the same passion,
mission, vision.
• need a lot of coaching

11. • (5 points) - We have the A-Team, The Furious 5,
The Avengers.
• (3 points) - Subpar team.
• (0 points) - meh.
Talent (scoring)

12. Landscape
• Competitive
• Is there competition?
• Need to assess the competition
rigorously. Can you really win?
• Funding Environment (IE. Grab Taxi
($250M), Didi Kuaidi ($1.5B), Delivery
Hero ($110M)
• Market & Cultural Landscape
• Alternative solutions, cultural fit.

13. • (5 points) - We can beat competitor, out
execute, out capitalize, and there is market and
cultural fit for your product.
• (3 points) - There is market and cultural fit, but
beating competitor might be a challenge.
• (0 points) - no market and cultural fit.
Landscape (scoring)

14. Network Effects
• Definition: “Effect that a single person using a
good or a service has on the total perceived
value of that product or service for others. The
more who use the product or service, the higher
it's value becomes to the group”
• Is it a “Cross Border Network Effect?”
Meaning, Does the network effects from one
country, affect users to the other country?
• Examples with services with cross
border network effect (Instagram,
AirBnB.
• Example with little or no cross border
effect (Food Delivery, content sites)

15. • (5 points) - Very strong cross border network
effects. Every additional user or content will
benefit the users from anywhere in the world.
• (3 points) - Some or little cross border network
effect.
• (2 points) - no network effects.
Network Effects (scoring)

16. Scoring!
• Phase
• Language / Culture
• Talent
• Landscape
• Network Effects

17. Results
• (25 Points) - Go! Go! Go!
• (15 Points~) - And didn't score ‘0’ in any
category then you should consider, but with
caution.
• (Below 15 Points) Don’t even consider.

18. Simply A Reference